Boilermaker 5K F30-34: Rathbun edges Giruzzi in a one-second thriller

• Ashley Rathbun wins in 20:30 (6:36/mi), holding off Gianna Giruzzi by a single second across 3.1 miles of Utica heat and humidity.
• Gianna Giruzzi (2nd, 20:31) sliced 45 seconds off her 2024 Boilermaker 5K result of 21:16 — a dramatic year-over-year improvement that still left her one second short.
• Cassandra Furness claimed 3rd in 21:22, running 6:53/mi to complete a podium separated by under a minute top to bottom.
• A field of 243 women in F30-34 spread across more than eight minutes from the winner to the back of the listed finishers.

The headline story in the F30-34 field is as tight as it gets: Ashley Rathbun of Westfield, NJ crossed in 20:30 at 6:36/mi, with Gianna Giruzzi of Clayville, NY finishing in 20:31 — the same pace on the watch, but a real margin decided by the clock. That one-second gap over 3.1 miles on a humid July morning in Utica is as close as a race gets without a shared podium step.

Giruzzi's performance deserves its own spotlight. She was 4th among the women at this same race in 2024 with a 21:16 — and came back in 2025 to run 20:31, a 45-second improvement that vaulted her to 2nd. She ran a faster race and still lost. That's the kind of result that stings and motivates in equal measure.

Cassandra Furness of Whitesboro, NY rounded out the podium in 21:22 (6:53/mi), running a noticeably more conservative pace than the top two but finishing comfortably clear of 4th. From there, the field spread out: Alyssa Tamburrino (4th, 24:03) and Abbie Sutliff (5th, 24:13) ran within ten seconds of each other at 7:44 and 7:48/mi respectively, with Ameena Dye (6th, 24:36) close behind. The back half of the top 20 saw a tighter cluster still — Brenna Kenney (13th, 26:39) and Jacqueline Rayburn (14th, 26:41) separated by just two seconds, with Rory Alexa Dicristofaro (15th, 26:43) two seconds further back — a three-runner stretch covering four seconds across 90% humidity and a Utica summer morning.